Meaning & Origins

Latinate feminine form of Felix. It was popular in Britain in the medieval period (with the vernacular forms Felice, Felis), but by the 16th century it had become confused with Phyllis. In modern times it is in only occasional use.

Irish, of English origin: habitational name from any of various places in England, for example in Cumbria, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Somerset, and North Yorkshire, so named from Old English stapol ‘post’ + tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.